The Entertainment Report 9-5-08

Thursday

Sep 4, 2008 at 2:00 AMSep 4, 2008 at 6:38 PM

Alan Petrucelli

FOR THE RECORD The Original Jacket Collection: Eugene Ormandy and The Original Jacket Collection: Montserrat Caballe (Sony BMG Masterworks) Celebrating the “Philadelphia Sound” – the lushly expressive orchestral signature sound that Eugene Ormandy inspired from his background as a violinist – this 10-disc limited-edition collection documents one of the greatest conductor/orchestra partnerships in musical history. Listen once again to Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra perform true classical gems, from Bartok to Mendelssohn, Rachmaninoff to Rimsky-Korsakov. Encore! Commemorating Caballe’s 75th birthday, the 15-disc collection includes works personally chosen by the operatic heavyweight. All aspects of her long career are here: famous Italian arias and rarities, German Lied repertoire, zarzuela arias and the complete operas of Salome and Norma. Like those in the companion Ormandy set, these recordings have been remastered in state-of-the-art sound from original sources, and presented with CD size reproductions of original LP jackets. Brava! DVD QUICK PICK The American Film Theatre: The Complete 14 Film Collection (Kino International) Having a front row seat for many, many evenings of great theater has never been so easy. Kino – the company that releases and re-releases great flicks at (usually) high prices – has issued the entire American Film Theatre (AFT) collection in one 15-disc thin-case box set. But that’s not all: Originally released in three individual sets in 2003 at a total cost of $329.95, this set is a mere $199.95 – that’s suggested retail, and still cheaper than choice seats to Young Frankenstein. AFT was the vision of producer Ely Landau, who was determined to make high-quality drama and comedies starring top talent. Through the years of AFT’s existence (1973-75), its films were shown in selected theatres, and only for members who bought an annual subscription. What do you get for the money? A complete list of films, cast members and accompanying bonus features would take up too much space, so I’ve swallowed hard and chosen only a few to highlight . . . a very tough task indeed. If you consider these appetizers, imagine the full course (and desserts!): The Iceman Cometh, starring Lee Marvin, Fredric March, Jeff Bridges and Robert Ryan; Three Sisters, starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright; A Delicate Balance, starring Katharine Hepburn and Paul Scofield and Rhinoceros, starring Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. What’s a bit unsettling is that such an amazing set is getting all but dismissed by its very distributor. The press release for The American Film Theatre: The Complete Collection is riddled with embarrassing and insulting typos: It’s Fredric March, not “Frederick;” it’s Jacques Brel, not “Jacques Brell;” it’s Kurt Weill, not “Kurt Weilll;” it’s Katharine Hepburn, not “Katherine Hepburn;” it’s “Philadelphia, Here I Come,” not “Philadephia, Here I Come;” Maximilian Schell, not Maximillian Schell; it’s John Osborne, not “John Osbourne;” and it’s Jacques Brel and Elly Stone starring in Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, not Melba Moore and Brock Peters (who do star in the set’s Lost in the Stars.) Thank goodness the lack of proofing doesn’t take away from the proof that this collection is top-notch.